This invention relates to a refrigerator and microwave oven enclosed in the same cabinet with unique electrical and ventilation supplies, so as to provide the convenience of storing and cooking food simultaneously in the same unit, while limiting peak power demanded by simultaneous operation of the refrigerator compressor and the microwave magnetron. The invention finds particular application in buildings having older wiring and fewer circuits, by minimizing the possibilities of overloading such circuits while providing safe uninterrupted service. It also prevents overloading a more modern circuit which is "dedicated" to the apparatus by preventing operation of the magnetron during start-up of the compressor.
Microwave ovens are now commonly available in quick stop grocery stores and lunch rooms for heating and cooking foodstuffs purchased across the counter and from vending machines. Heretofore though, a microwave oven and refrigerator have not been combined on a smaller scale in the same cabinet, particularly with provision for limiting the peak instantaneous power consumption so as to make the combination useful and attractive for use by students in dorm rooms, resort hotel rooms, tractor trailer cabs, recreational vehicles, so-called pullman efficiencies and the like.
The prior art teaches only the combination of refrigerated storage and a microwave oven in the same vending machine cabinet, particularly coin operated vending machines and provision for transporting a selected item to the microwave oven for heating and subsequent removal from the machine.
Accordingly, it is among the objects of the instant invention to combine prior art appliances into a single more convenient apparatus by utilizing a single molded, insulated shell containing both a microwave oven and a refrigerator, while at the same time providing adequate ventilation of both apparatus and limiting instantaneous peak power consumption by the combination.